Renewels
by nurrrna
Summary: One day Hinata decides that life is too short to be shy. But why the sudden change? Read to find out! NaruHina , very slight NejiTen
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys…well this is my first fic, so bear with me. Praise me (hehehe…), flame me, anything you like. Here goes!

**Disclaimer**: Naruto is not mine. And sadly, never will be…

Chapter One: Renovations 

"Kiba-kun! Shino-kun! Ohayo!"

The two looked at each other strangely and then turned to the bounding, lively girl before them. She had shed her big, heavy coat, which made her look at least 30 pounds lighter. She was sporting a bright yellow tank top and a black skirt with black knee length tights under. The sun seemed to shine especially brighter near Hinata. She basked in the sun's warm rays as she skipped happily to her two baffled teammates. Kiba nodded at Shino.

Shino pushed his sunglasses up his nose and scratched his head. "Well…my bugs have confirmed that this _is_ indeed Hinata…"

Hinata raised one of her eyebrows. "What are you two talking about? Of course it is I, Hinata, your teammate!"

"But, uh, you're not stuttering…"

"Well, I woke up today, and said 'you know what Hinata? Life's too short to be shy. This year, I will live each day as if it is my last!'"

Kiba rubbed his chin. "I kinda liked it when you stuttered-"

"So what are we going to do today, hm?"

"Um…train?"

"Bah, forget that! Why don't we go somewhere?"

Kiba was still rubbing his eyes. Maybe he was dreaming. "Uh…where?"

"Hm…lets go watch a movie. Then we can have a picnic maybe. And after we should round up all the rookies from team 7 and 9, and have a sleepover. Won't that be fun!"

Kiba shrugged. He confirmed that he was dreaming; might as well play along with it until he woke up. "Okay, which movie should we watch?"

"I want to watch Shinobi Wars: Revenge of the Fifth (Kazekage)"

"Oh yeah, I forgot that they made a movie on Gaara." Kiba sighed. "You just want to watch that because your character appears on screen for forty-two seconds…"

"Kiba…the first to be promoted to Chuunin on this team…is me."

"Oh brother! Here we go again…"

Hinata wrinkled her nose. "Nah…I don't think I want to watch that."

"Okay."

Kiba dropped to the floor. "What? How come you listen to her?"

"The girl on this team…is Hinata."

_Sigh._ "Just…nevermind. What do you want to watch Hinata?"

"I would like to watch The Journal of a Kunoichi. It's about a young girl named Kiyo who is sold to a ninja village and becomes a legendary kunoichi."

Shino and Kiba both sweat dropped. "_What a total chick flick…"_

The two young men, still in shock, followed the skipping Hyuga heiress to the Konoha Theater.

"Ino, Sakura, come in!"

The two girls squealed as they entered the Hyuga complex. Ino had hearts in her eyes. The Yamanaka family was known to be fairly prosperous, but man, at least four of her houses could fit on the Hyuga complex "Hinata, this place is huge! How do you avoid getting lost? And better yet, how'd you get your dad to let you have this slumber party? He's as stiff as a board."

Hinata frowned, but then quickly melted it into a smile. "He can't refuse the Hyuga heiress! Come in, drop your stuff off in my room, then head to the basement." Hinata pulled a lever in her room which revealed a staircase on the floor. The two girls oooed and ahhed.

As Hinata, Sakura, and Ino walked down the stairs, they entered Hinata's large, spacious basement.

Choji was eating everything in his radius, Shikamaru was being tortured in cruel and unusual ways by Temari (she was in town), and Tenten was braiding a very pissed off Neji's hair (a/n: yah, I know, very OOC that he would allow it, but I can't help it! I must 8D), Kiba was talking to Shino who nodded occasionally and pretend to listen, and Naruto was playing a drum set (that spontaneously appeared out of nowhere) along to booming rock music while Lee was thrashing his head hysterically to the music.

Hinata and the two other girls followed her down and sat down on a couch. Hinata looked around the room. "Now that everyone's here, why don't we-"

"**KARAOKE! AI AI AI!" **He pulled on a sombrero and started festively shaking his maracas. Everyone sweat dropped as Lee grabbed the mic and started singing some ridiculous song called "Squirrel love."

Squeakin squeak squeakers means I love you! 

_Squeak squeaken squeakers means, "me too!"_

Squeakidy squeakidy squeak! Squeakidy squeakidy squeak! 

After counting to fourteen, Temari lost track of how many times he repeated that demonic song. She took out her fan and started polishing it. "_If he doesn't shut up, I'm going to smell blood tonight!" _

Tenten started banging her head against a wall to drown the sound out of her head. Everyone let out a sigh of relief as the song ended.

"Shall I give an encore presenta-"

"**NNOOO!"** everyone simultaneously roared out. Naruto gently shoved Lee off stage and coughed. "So who's next!"

Sakura jumped up from her seat. "I know, Hinata, you should go next!" No one expected what happened next: Hinata simply said, "Okay."

Next thing you know, Hinata pried the mic out of Lee's clenched fingers, while back up dancers Ino and Sakura went to either side of her, wearing feathered boas, and tambourines.

She sang a kind of energetic song with soft electric guitar rifts in the backgrounds and drums, courtesy of Uzumaki Naruto. Ino and Sakura swayed from left to right along with the song, shaking their tambourines every so often.

Break my shell, let me claw my way out 

_Relieve me of these restless doubts_

_Let me follow the path of footprints in the sand_

_You left for me to chase on unscathed land_

_Let confidence rain into my soul_

_Time will turn, hands will roll_

_Never waiting for me to fulfill this void_

And I'll hold your outstretched hand just for a while 

_I can't leave you behind, and diminish your smile_

_I can't put you through pain from leaving so soon_

_Drowning in the sand of time within great dunes_

_And I'll wait for you to join someday_

_Draw closer, nightmares and dreams, come what may_

An ominous silence wavered through the room, emitting from the delicate tendrils of sound that was Hinata's voice. Everyone could pretty much visualize Hinata pour her heart out, and spill it onto the floor.

As Hinata shuffled around uncomfortably in her bed, she could feel moisture seek through her pillow in pools. But there was no need to cry. Hinata was perfectly happy. Something must've flown into her eye. Yah, that's it. Satisfied with her answer, Hinata drifted into a very restless sleep.

"Shino, you tell her."

"Kiba, the person who is not good with women…is I."

"Grr I tell you, grr! I can't do it! I can't tell her-"

"Tell me what?" Kiba nearly jumped out of his whitey-tighties. "H-Hinata, h-hey, how's it going?"

"Stupendous!"

"Oh yeah…um, great. Yah, I'm great to. Today I cleaned my room, and this time Akamaru didn't leave a present for me in my shoes, man I hate it when that happens, but yah, nothing's out of the ordinary, Everything's great and-OH I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Kiba started pulling at his hair and sobbing hysterically.

Shino cleared his throat. "Hinata…we noticed you've been acting…very _perky_ lately. Is anything wrong? Perphaps, an allergic reaction to something? Because I swear, my dung beetles have been disappearing from my inventories, and I thought-"

"Oh Shino, you're just exaggerating."

Kiba composed himself and propped himself against a boulder "coolly." "I'm afraid not. Is there anything you want to tell us about?"

"…Yes…"

"_Success!"_

"I trimmed my bangs this morning. What do you think!"

Kiba's hand slipped from the boulder, spitting up mouthfuls of dirt as he got back up. "Hinata…" _"Hehehe…the serious voice has got to work!"_

Shino sighed. "_Doesn't he realize his serious voice makes him sound like a throaty 300 pound woman?"_

Hinata closed her eyes, twiddling her fingers madly. Finally, as her fingers were reduced to nubs from the constant twiddling, she put her fingers down and opened her eyes. She look and Kiba, then Shino, right in the eyes. "We've been friends…forever. I'm sorry…I owe it to you guys to let you know…"

Kiba nodded enthusiastically. "Whatever it is Hinata, we can help you through it."

"But you guys must promise not to tell _anyone_. Especially Neji-nii-san, and…"

"We know."

"Okay…the reason I have been acting this way is-"

Kiba walked up to his door and smiled reassuringly at his teammates. "Hinata, don't worry about. Like I said, it's nothing we can't help you see through. Cheer up!" He gave her a cheerful thumbs up as he turned his doorknob and closed the door behind him.

Kiba looked outside his window and waited until Hinata's retreating form disappeared from view. As tears blurred out his already faltering vision, he collapsed onto his bed, clutching his blanket in his fingers as tears spilled out of his eyes in streams of helplessness. He cried himself to sleep, letting the soggy pillow absorb the sadness that tainted him.

It's a bit short, I know. But since I am so nice, I have already posted the next chapter. Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, hello, hello everyone! 

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The world is cruel.**

Chapter Two: My good friend Naruto-kun 

Naruto rolled around on his bed, still sleeping in that weird sleeping cap. As he dreamed steadfastly about a universe where it rained ramen, a soft taping at his apartment doors sent him crashing to the ground. "WHO THE HELL IS IT! THE DOOR'S OPEN! Nothing here's worth stealing anyway…" he grumbled as he got out of bed and threw on some clothes.

Hinata yanked open the door and hopped inside his house. "Sorry Naruto-kun! Guess you're not a morning person."

Naruto blinked. Then he blinked again. "Hehehe…sorry Hinata-chan, I didn't think it was you, I thought it was Ero-Sennin."

Hinata chuckled (yes, chuckled!). "That's okay Naruto. Anyways, I was wondering if you didn't have any missions today or anything, we can go for lunch or something?"

"Uh…sure."

Hinata twirled around in her stool at the ramen stand and waited while Naruto finished what might've been his 12th bowl. She couldn't be sure; there were bowls littered everywhere. Hinata had finished her miso ramen a while ago."

Naruto slurped up the remains of his ramen and scratched at the back of his head. "Ah..sorry for making you wait…"

"That's okay Naruto-kun. I enjoy being here, spending time with my good _friend_ Naruto. Since I asked you here, allow me to pay."

Naruto's eyes bulged out of their sockets and started waving his hands in protest. "Oh no, Hinata! It'll probably cost more than your whole house!"

Hinata looked at the bill and eyed him suspiciously. "Jeez, at this rate you'll have to sell your organs to continue eating like this."

Naruto grinned. "Hey, a man's gotta eat."

"LOOK, AN ALL YOU CAN EAT RAMEN CART!"

For the second time, Naruto's eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets. "**WHAT! WHERE, OVER THERE!"**

Hinata snickered evilly as she paid the bill and dragged him away from the stand. Naruto snapped out of her stupor when he heard her laugh. Even her evil snicker was adorable.

Naruto pressed his palm against his forehead. "You'd think that after nineteen years, I would stop falling for that one…"

Hinata grinned. "Nope, same ol' Naruto-kun!"

"So, what do you want to do tomorrow?"

"I would like to go to the winter festivals with my friend Naruto-kun."

"Sure. Meet me there?" She nodded enthusiastically.

"Naruto-kun…?"

"Yah?"

"Promise me…we'll always be friends?"

He gave her a sincere, non-foxy smile. "Of course, Hinata-chan. See you at the festival!"

Naruto, using his vast height advantage, peered over the numerous heads. He sighed, spying that familiar, midnight-blue head.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" He studied her. She was wearing a silvery white kimono. The top faded from black to white. There was a silvery blue lake at the hem where cranes lazed around, near the silver waterfall. At the shoulders, birds ascended into the black sky, under a fingernail moon, stitched in gold thread. Her dark grey obi was dotted with golden fireflies. She looked stunning. "Wow, you look…amazing! I feel completely under-dressed. Sorry, I just got back from a mission."

"Thanks Naruto-kun." She looked at him wearing his anbu-vest and pants. His fox mask was tucked away into a pouch. She couldn't imagine him any better looking. She smiled reassuringly. "You look perfect."

The two "friends" walked around, arms hooked, eating, playing games, joking around, and altogether just enjoying each other's company. If anyone had looked upon them, they would've wondered as to why the Hyuga heiress and Kyuubi vessel was a couple. When it was time, they sat on the hills and watched the fireworks soar through the air. Naruto looked at the small girl next to him, jumping up at the sight of the fireworks. He looked down at the ground, shuffled his feet around, and looked…well, slightly miserable. He quickly hid himself under a mask of happiness.

"Hey, Hinata-chan! Tomorrow we should go somewhere. Maybe dinner; I still owe you one for the ramen."

"Okay, that'd be great." She fell to the ground, lying down contently in the grass. She reached for Naruto's hand, grasped it into her tiny hand, and looked into his eyes. Naruto gulped audibly.

"Naruto-kun…"

She paused for a very long time, seemingly battling herself in an internal argument.

"Hinata-chan?"

She gave his hand a little squeeze and looked away, shaking her head. "Your friendship…it gives me reason to _live._" "_And have hope…_"

They stayed there, lying in the grass side-by-side, clasping hands, and gazing up at the fire works. In comfortable silence, they simply stayed that way, breathing in each other's company.

"Hey Hinata-chan, you just got back from a mission, right?"

"Yah." She brushed the dirt off her filthy anbu uniform, pushing aside her wolf mask. "I look and feel dirty…"

"Yah, I can smell it alright." She punched at his shoulder playfully.

"Thanks Naruto-kun, you make me feel like a _real_ woman." She giggled like a little girl.

"Anyways, while I was on my mission, I saw the **perfect** thing for you!"

"Really? Well, bring it here!"

"Wait, close your eyes." He obeyed as she reached into her bag and pulled something oddly bowl-shaped out.

She placed it on his head. "Okay, open!"

The curious Kyuubi vessel took the "bowl" off his head and studied it, before breaking up into manical laughter. "OH A RAMEN SHAPED HAT! WHERE DID YOU FIND SUCH A WONDERFUL THING!" When you pushed the middle of the bowl, it made a loud slurping noise. Naruto had hearts in his eyes.

Hinata threw her head back as she laughed, clutching her sides. "It looks great on you. And where did I get it? Well…that's for me to know, and you to find out."

Naruto crossed his arms across his chest and pouted. "Fine, whatever. Let's just go to dinner."

"What! Like this?"

She was frantically pulling at the twigs and grass in her hair, and wiping at her face with a cloth. "Don't worry about it Hinata, you'll still be the prettiest girl there."

She punched him on the shoulder playfully. "You're just trying to weasel out of paying, aren't you?"

He grinned his signature foxy grin. "You caught me."

"Well too bad! Because, while I am _very_ flattered, you're still paying!" With that the small girl bolted towards the restaurant. A small smile graced his face as he stared at her back, running. After letting out a small sigh, he ran after her, quickly catching up.

Outside of the restaurant, the rain was pouring heavily, obscuring the view outside. "Ah, I don't have an umbrella." Naruto unzipped his jacket and handed it to Hinata. "Here, you can use this."

Hinata looked outside the door in a rapt fashion. Without taking her eyes off the rain, she said, "Naruto-kun…have you ever ran around in the rain, just for fun?"

"Well…yah, plenty of times. Although I did always get a bad cough afterwards."

"I've never done it before…will you play in the rain with me?"

He nodded, as they held hands and ran outside the door. Hinata laughed madly while Naruto looked down at her. She had really…changed. Now it was easier to talk to her, sure. But was he really happy? Did he like this change?

After a few minutes of running around, there wasn't a single dry spot on them.

Hinata wiped the water away from her eyes. She had to squint to keep them open. "Naruto-kun, you're soaked!"

"Hey, so are you! Aren't you cold?"

"No…all I can feel is warmth."

"Why?"

"Because, I am here, with my friend Naruto-kun, playing in the rain."

"Hinata…"

"Hm?"

He scratched at the back of his drenched head, before finally speaking. "You really want to be my friend, don't you?"

"Of course. You're my best friend, Naruto-kun."

"Tell me Hinata, what is this word, 'girlfriend'?"

Hinata didn't have an answer for that.

Naruto continued to speak for the both of them. "It's a girl…who happens to be a _friend_, right?"

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Is something wrong?"

"Sometimes…I wonder what it feels like to love somebody. Like, what is it supposed to feel like? How do you know who that person is?"

Hinata nodded, smiling sadly. "I'm not exactly the best person to answer that Naruto-kun…Well, Naruto-kun, I will be going now. See you tomorrow, okay?"

As she walked away from him, the tears mixed in with the raindrops that slid down her face.

Naruto sighed. _"I guess the only thing I can do for her now…is be there for her…as her dear friend Naruto-kun…"_

Hinata walked to Naruto's apartment and lightly tapped on the door. When he opened the door, he smiled at her. "Hey, Hinata-chan."

"Hi…Naruto-kun."

"What should we do today?"

"Hey, we should spy on Neji-nii-san! He's out training with Tenten."

Naruto rubbed his hands evilly.

"Sh…this is where they train. Don't move around in the bushes!"

"Uh…Hinata-chan, can't Neji spot our chakra signatures?"

Hinata swatted her hand carelessly. "He's usually too absorbed in training to notice or care. Sh, it looks like they're talking!"

Hinata cocked an eyebrow. For once, they weren't talking. Neji was sitting on a tree stump while Tenten was lying down in the grass, her hands underneath her head.

"Neji?"

"?"

"Hinata sure seems to be spending a lot of time with Naruto."

"Yes, she has been…"

"They're perfect for each other, don't you think?"

Hinata coughed while Naruto started scratching at the back of his hand. He smiled. _"It's been a long time since I've seen her blush like that…_"

Neji gulped. "Hinata-sama and Naruto are just friends."

Tenten looked up at him, and grinned. "Like how we are, _just friends_, right?"

Neji coughed a few times. "Tenten?"

"Yah?"

"What is your opinion on fate?"

She raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously. "I thought you stopped bothering with fate a long time ago."

"Just answer my question."

"Oh, fine fine. Fate…hm…Fate, to me, is just an excuse. Something people use to blame their misfortunes on. If you live according to your 'fate,' then I don't consider that living."

"I see…you know it is my 'fate' to marry some foreign clan heiress to strengthen ties with Konoha?"

"I see…well that's very nice."

Neji's face paled a little. "_She doesn't care?"_

"Do you think I could ever…overcome this 'fate?'"

Tenten got up and sat on the same stump as Neji so that they were back to back. She leaned on him, just a little bit. "Yah…I think you can…"

He nodded. Slowly, they laced their fingers together. They stayed that way, in perfect silence, long after Naruto and Hinata left.

"Naruto-kun…what do you think about fate?"

"Fate is nothing. Fate would like for me to lie dead and stay a drop-out for the rest of my life. But I won't. Someday, I just know that I'll become Hokage. Because fate is betting against me, I'll try harder and harder."

Hinata nodded thoughtfully. "I wish I could feel that way too, Naruto-kun…"

He looked at her sideways. "What is it, Hinata?"

"Fate…is something that I usually wouldn't worry about. Fate had already deemed me as worthless, and I thought that I would always be a failure. But seeing you, getting stronger and being recognized, I felt like there was hope for me. Of course, father accepted me again. But now…it's something I can't control. I can't escape it, and no matter how hard I try, it'll always catch up with me. I can't reverse it."

Naruto patted her shoulder. "You can do anything, Hinata-chan. That's what I believe."

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I really hope so…"

Sakura sat down on her knees, eating her rice cakes, as Hinata leaned against a tree, eating from her bento.

"It's nice out today…"

Hinata nodded.

Sakura looked at the pale, thin, Hyuga heiress with admiration. Even with the most unfair situations, she lived every day with a smile on her face. And here she was, worried about something that was so trivial compared to Hinata's problems. "_Sometimes…even though I'm loud, and I try to act tough, I wish I was more like you…"_

"So…how's everything?"

"As good as I can expect it to be…"

Sakura looked down at her rice cakes glumly.

"Sakura-chan, what are you most afraid of?"

"…Making the wrong decisions. Trusting the wrong person…and letting everyone down…"

Hinata touched her shoulder affectionately. "I know that if you look deep down inside yourself, you'll know the answer to anything. You won't pick the right answer, necessarily, but you'll pick the _best_ answer."

Sakura nodded. "What are you most afraid of?"

"Wasting time. Living an empty life…where I'll be forgotten…"

Sakura looked at Hinata carefully. She never acted happy and energetic around Sakura. She was the same, quiet, polite Hinata. It was the one thing Sakura was glad that Hinata kept about herself.

They sat there, eating their lunches. Without speaking, they were having a very heartfelt discussion, whole-heartedly understanding each other. Hinata picked at the grains of rice with her chosticks. It was hard for Sakura to be in love with somebody that could be beside her one day, then gone the next. Sasuke was just unpredictable that one. Hinata sympathized for the poor girl, feeling guilty that she was beginning to feel sorry for herself. After a few hours of silence, Sakura finished eating her rice cakes.

"You know what Hinata? You and I are quite alike…"

"I like to think that, Sakura-chan."

They smiled at each other, and continued sitting there in comfortable silence.

Well, that's the end of Chapter Two. I don't know how long this fic will be. Please take the time to review, I'll love you forever!….please?


	3. Chapter 3

I was surprised. I didn't think I would get any reviews at all, since this is my very first. Makes me teary. Wipes tears I said I would post it up today, so without further ado:

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto….yah, that's it.**

Chapter Three: Suffocated in the pages 

"Neji-nii-san!"

He froze in his track and turned around very slowly. "Hinata-sama?"

"I was thinking. We're cousins, yet we barely do stuff together. I mean, you're almost a brother to me. We should talk more often, do some bonding activities."

"Ok…"

"So here's what we're going to do today. First, we're going to go hang gliding over the Hokage Monuments…WITHOUT PARACHUTES! Then we're going to go rock climbing up to the Hokage monuments, without using chakra The only thing we'll be using are bungee cables. Sounds exciting, huh! And to wrap it up, we're going to practice archery. With a surprise hidden twist! Sound good?"

"Well actually, I was going to train with-"

"Excellent! Go change into more outdoorsy clothes and meet me outside our gates!"

"Hinata…are these pieces of cloth adequate in maintaining our weight?"

"Hm…yanno I'm not really sure. But hey, it sure looks exciting! And look at the pretty colors on it! Oo"

Neji gulped. He was terribly afraid of heights…not that anyone knows that. Because the great Hyuga genius never shows fear!

Neji pulled back the color of his shirt to let in some air. As he was about to protest, Hinata gave a squeal and pushed off the cliffs. "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"_Gaaaaaahhh!"_ Although he maintained as calm as ever on the outside, inside he was panicking, running around, waving his hands in the air, and knocking down furniture. As they started to descend towards the ground, the sweat started pouring down from his forehead. If he reeked, Hinata didn't notice. She was too busy enjoying this stupid piece of cloth.

"Heeheeheee!" Hinata giggled with glee as she soared through the air, overlooking Konoha. "Hey Neji, look at the view!"

He looked down. _Big mistake._ Neji clutched at his stomach and closed his eyes, taking in deep breaths. _"Woo sah. Woo sah."_

They slowly drifted down and landed gracefully on the ground. Neji almost crapped in his pants. Hinata jumped up.

"Rock climbing time! Get your bungee cords!"

"_Maybe if I pretend to be dead-" _He rolled over as Hinata kicked him in the sides.

"Come on come on come one!"

Neji cursed silently as he climbed the stupid wall. People actually do this for fun?

Hinata grunted as she climbed higher and higher.

"_I'm a shinobi damn it, not a barbarian who likes to climb stupid rocks!"_

"Woo, doesn't this just get your adrenaline pumping!"

"no, it gets my stomach pumping…"

"What was that?'

"Nothing…"

When Hinata wasn't looking, he got on the soles of his feet and used his chakra to run. When he was just a little behind Hinata he got back on his hands and feet. Using all of his strength, Neji climbed his way up. His muscles screamed out in pain.

"Great, we reached the ¼ mark!"

Neji glared up at the vast wall. _"Kuso…"_

"Hinata, are you sure this is necessary?"

She nodded vigorously, adjusting her aim. "This is what they do in those old western movies. I saw it! I especially like this one, about some peculiar man who wears green tights…"

Neji muttered curses under his breath as Hinata pulled her arm back and fired at him. Neji bent away from the arrow at the last minute.

"Neji! Stay still! If you keep moving around, how am I gonna get that apple on your head?"

"Your aiming is off…"

Hinata stroked her nonexistent beard, in deep thought. "I think your head is uneven by 2.37 degrees." Neji's eye twitched violently.

Hinata and Neji both collapsed as soon as they reached their house's training rounds.

Hinata looked at her cousin, and for once dropped her chipper act.

"N-Neji-nii-san?"

"Yes, Hinata-sama?"

"Thank you."

"For what?" She smiled shly.

"I know you had a p-pretty awful time t-today. But I-I'm glad you came. It's something I n-needed to d-do."

He gave her one of his rare smiles. "It was nothing. Especially for you."

She got up and hugged her cousin with (BROTHERLY) love.

Hinata woke up as someone lightly tapped on her door.

"Who's there?"

"It's me…"

"Come in, Neji-nii-san."

He walked in, shuffling his feet around uncomfortably.

"So…how's it going?"

Neji looked her in the eyes. Hinata noticed that his eyes had a sadness lurking in them.

"Hinata-sama, I was wondering if you would go pick flowers with me..."

Hinata blinked. Then blinked again. Then she dropped back onto her pillow and fell back asleep.

Neji donned a look of confusion as he walked over and poked her. Still sleeping. He poked her a little harder. Still nothing. He took in a deep breath. After what seemed like hours of poking, he shoved her off the bed.

"Ow…oh, hey Neji, ohayo! I just had a the weirdest dream."

"Hinata!"

"Huh?"

"I said…would you like to go pick flowers with me?"

She blinked. As she was about to fall asleep again, Neji whipped open the blinds, letting in the sunlight. She winced as the sun seeped through her drooping eyelids.

"I asked Ino, and she said that this meadow had the best flowers."

"But Neji, I thought you vowed never to go with be again after that time you got stung be a bee."

His eyebrow twitched at the memory. "I know…but it's your favorite hobby, right?"

Hinata nodded eagerly.

"Then…let's go pick some flowers…" he said dully.

Hinata pranced through the meadows, stopping every so often when she spotted interesting flowers. She was thoroughly enjoying herself while Neji crushed some flowers and stomped on them when Hinata wasn't looking.

After six hours of swatting away bees and other pesky insects, Neji was glad to hear that Hinata was done picking flowers. Her basket was full to the brim with flowers of every size, color, and shape.

"These are going straight for the album for pressing!" Hinata rubbed her hands evilly, which looked quite comical since she was still wearing a flowery straw hat.

Hinata and Nei walked home. As they entered their home she threw off her hat and ran straight for her room. Neji leaned on her doorsill, watching her press her flowers into her extensive collection.

"Neji-nii-san, do you know why I like pressing flowers?"

"because…it looks nice?"

"Well, that too. But I thought of a new reason recently."

He nodded for her to go on. "Flowers will stay beautiful forever. While a normal flower would wilt in a matter of days, a pressed flower can last forever." Her voice quivered a little as she said that last word.

The tears penetrated the wall of her emotions and pressed through, collecting in a small pool beside her knees. Neji's eyes opened wide in shock. He walked over to the small, mournful girl and patted her back while the tears eventually slowed to a trickle.

As Hinata finished hiccupping, she looked Neji straight in the eye. He couldn't look at her; he had to look away.

"How did you find out?"

Neji sighed. He knew she knew that he knew…

Flashback 

Neji leaned against a boulder, propping up on of his legs against it. He looked like the epitome of the word "cool." As Kiba walked towards the intimidating Hyuga, he stared at his shoes as if they were the single most fascinating specimens in the world.

"Why, _hello_, Kiba. Akamaru." The clueless dog barked in reply happily.

"Well h-hey there, Neji buddy ol' pal. W-what's up?"

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to say hey."

"Ok. Hey. I have to go now. Bye."

Neji grabbed his collar, while Kiba ran in place obliviously. _"I've got to get out of here!"_

Neji studied his nails. "You've been friends with Hinata for…what? Twenty plus years?" Kiba gulped as he nodded. "Wow, what a long friendship. Friends who know eachother for…I don't know, twenty plus years, they must confide in eachother their deepest, darkest secrets, right?" Kiba did not like where this was going.

He sighed. "Okay Neji, ya got me. The truth is…"

Neji's ears perked up as he elaned in closer to Kiba.

"…I know why Shino covers up his face!" Neji fell to the floor.

"While I'm sure that is…fascinating, that's not what I'm talking about."

"Well what are you talking about? 'Cause Mother wants me home by dinnertime…"

Neji dropped the act. "Why is Hinata acting that way?"

Kiba started sweating. "O-Oh, you mean her bangs. I think they look quite snazzy. She should always trim them herself."

Neji looked like he was a step away from poking Kiba to death. He sighed dejectedly. "You're not going to like what you hear…some things are best left secrets. I can't look at her without wanting to cry. And it'll just be worse for you…"

"Please tell me."

Kiba fought the urge to come clean. He was family to Hinata, he deserved to know. A devil Kiba and an angel kiba poofed onto his shoulders. The devil spoke up first. "Ah, the boy deserves to know, besides he looks like he's a step away from murdering you. Tell him tell him tell him tell him tell him! C'mon kid, ya know ya wanna. For Hinata's sake."

The angel gasped. "Jee wilikers, nay! Nay I say! Imagine how the poor boy will feel! He'll be crushed! The horror, oh the horror!" He covered his eyes.

"Ahh, screw you, you cross dresser! You're not going to listen to a full grown man in a white dress, are you?"

"It's not a dress! It's a 'robe.'"

"Oh, look at his beaaauutiful wings! C'mon, I gotta pitchfork! Think about. Dress, pitchfork. I'm thinking, go with the guy with the pitchfork!" He jutted it into the air a few times to emphasize his point.

Kiba swatted them away from his shoulders. He grabbed Neji by the collar, checked to see if the coast was clear, and dragged him behind a big rock. "You're asking for misery…"

"Then let me have it."

Kiba looked Neji in the eyes, which reflected a look of sheer determination and almost…pleading. If Huyga Neji was reduced to begging, Kiba knew it was serious. "Okay…I'll tell you…there's no turning back here…you'll regret it…I know I do…are you sure about this? Because we can just pretend this never happened…I mean, what good can come of it? My gram gram always told me that curiosity killed the cat! Really now…think about it…the consequences are diar..."

"Kiba…"

"Hinata's-"

Neji froze. His body shut down. He stared directly ahead of him, but saw nothing. Slowly, the color drained from his face. He shivered from the chills that raced down his spine in the sunny, summer temperature. He felt…_numb._

Kiba patted him on the shoulder. "She said she has no regrets…"

Neji nodded absentmindedly as he walked home. He slowly closed the door behind him and fell onto his bed.

That night, Neji cried for the second time in his life.

End Flashback 

"Hinata…I-"

"No. Don't apologize."

"Hinata…" his face contorted into a pained expression.

"This whole thing…it's made me think. Would I live a meaningful life if this didn't happen? What would've happened if this didn't happen?"

"I'll tell you what would happen…I would go on, living like I was, for the rest of my life, accomplishing nothing. So I have no regrets."

He turned away from her as a single tear slid out of his eye.

"I won't spend any more time thinking of the 'would have, could have, should haves.' I won't give in that easily to fate. I will overcome it…"

The silence that emitted was tense. The air seemed to discharge more gusts of uneasiness in the winds as seconds turned to minutes; minutes turned to hours. They silently configured a compromise. As Hinata laid her head against her pillow, the suffocated feeling that haunted her in previous nights dispersed. That night, she slept peacefully.

By now, you guys are probably having a good guess about what's going on. I apologize, my MS word was being retarded, so there's a lot of lines in random places. Sorry about that T As always, please review! 8


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to all you stuuupendous girls for reviewing :D I am currently working on chapter five, but am experiencing some writer's block. I'll have it up probably on Saturday. Thank you, my faithful readers xD I'll be quiet now… 

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Chapter Four: Run 

"Neji, we've gone jogging, hiking, _ice-fishing_, and you took my to a women's self defense class. My feet are killing me…" "_Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the whole hey let's spend more time together thing…"_

"Hinata-sama, it's a very special day today. You must live your birthday to its full potential."

Hinata sighed as she thumbed threw the pamphlet they gave her at her self-defense classes: "How to Defend One's Self from Chauvinistic Pigs" She tossed it into a nearby trashcan. She was a ninja, dangit. She knew how to take care of herself. She just barely managed to sit through two hours of caffeine-crazed women insisting that they should never be without something called "pepper spray," whatever that was. She just wanted to get home and eat a generous slab of cake.

Neji jumped out of the men's room and grabbed Hinata's arm. "It's time to go home."

"_Yes!"_

Hinata was too glad to get home to notice that Neji was dragging her along the floor, cutting off the circulation in her wrist. The gates at the Hyuga complex stepped aside as they saw Neji and Hinata approaching. Neji stepped aside. "After you." She waved her hand in thanks lazily and walked (crawled) her way to her room. Neji followed quickly behind her. Hinata opened the door.

"**Surprise! Happy Birthday Hinata!"**

Balloons bombarded their way to her, pushing her aside. Those annoying popper-majigars clouded the air. The noise from the door sent Hinata's hair whipping out of control. As the confetti and smoke cleared away from the air, everyone waited with anticipation to see the look on Hinata's face…

…And it wasn't a pretty sight. Her hair was sticking on end like a porcupine, and it looked like the color was drained out of her face with a pump. Crickets chirped in the background.

Shino coughed and strapped a party hat onto Hinata's head. As soon as the rubber band snapped onto her chin, she fell over like a log. Kurenai slapped her forehead in defeat.

"What did I tell you? I said the poppers would make her faint! But nooooo, 'The poppers are fun. They have colorful papers and everything!'" Kurenai said in a high, squeaky voice.

Lee blushed and quickly kicked the bag containing the rest of the poppers under a couch.

When Hinata had finally woken up, she found a few bruises on her arms and legs. Tenten hit Lee's head with a bat. "I told you to stop poking her with this! And Neji, what took you so long, the ice cream cake is melting as we speak!"

"That self defense class took longer than I anticipated."

A light bulb _pinged _as Naruto was struck with an ingenius idea! "I know! Why don't we keep it in the freezer!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto, the cake is a six-layer ice cream cake…do you really think it could fit in that freezer? How troublesome…"

"He heh heh…"

Sakura pounced onto Hinata, readjusted the party hat that had gotten disheveled when she fainted, and dragged her up to the large cake. Hinata blinked as she tiptoed to look over the cake. Her smile was a look of pure, sincere happiness. As everyone sang her the Happy Birthday song, she winced. Their voices were causing her cheeks to flap in the wind.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR HINA-CHAN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUU!"

She jumped up and blew at all twenty candles. It was all too much for her; seeing all of her closest friends gathered under one roof, singing her the birthday song. She couldn't suppress the tear that slowly treaded down her face.

"Hinata, what's wrong?"

She looked at Kiba's sad face and quickly brightened up. "I'm just…really glad you guys did this for me. It's the nicest thing anyone's ever done to me!"

Everyone cheered and started to chant. "EAT THE CAKE! EAT THE CAKE! EAT THE CAKE!"

Choji handed her a fork. He wanted her to hurry up and eat that beautiful, _beautiful_ work of art so he could plow into it with a shovel. She politely declined. Everyone's face was blank. Hinata smiled as she swiftly shot her hand into the cake, brought out a large scoop of cake with her hands, and devoured it in seconds. After a moment of silence, everyone cheered like hyenas. Her frosty face smiled happily.

"Who wants cake!" The hungry 'children' stampeded towards her, running over Choji, who cried. One of the servants brought Hinata knife to cut the ice cream cake for her friends. As every single person other than him was handed a piece of cake, Choji started moaning. Hinata smiled. From out of thin air, she produced a ginormous meat cleaver. Choji had little pink hearts in his eyes. Hinata stood on a stool to cut the cake. She used the meat cleaver to cut a very, very generous piece for Choji. He brought his hands in front of his face like a happy little puppy.

"Present time! Present time! Present time!" Hinata felt like a sacrifice as the natives closed in on her and started chanting. But a very happy sacrifice.

She picked up a square-shaped package wrapped in jaunty green and orange wrapping paper. "OH THAT'S MINE THAT'S MINE!" Lee was jumping up and down. Hinata tore away at the wrapping paper and sweat dropped. For in her hand she held a book entitled Unleashing the Flaming Youthful Zest Within Guide for Dummies. She thanked him very enthusiastically, which made Lee sprout into tears of happiness.

Next she picked up a heart-shaped box. It read "From Sakura." Hinata smiled as she carefully lifted the lid off. She reached inside and picked up a heart-shaped photo album with jewels encrusted into the cover. Everyone "oohed" and "awed." She flipped through the pages as nostalgia washed over here. Somehow, Sakura had acquired any photo she could that had Hinata in it in the whole village. The pictures in the album highlighted her life; from sitting in her mother's lap as a toddler to her anbu graduation party. She hugged the album close to her as she went over and gave Sakura a hug.

She then picked up another present. Inside was a very large, extravagant assortment of hair ornaments. Hinata thanked Ino and gave the girl a warm hug. Ino beamed at Hinata.

Shikamaru and Choji had pitched in to get Hinata a very elaborate Kimono that was embroidered with pale, lavender daisies. She looked up at them, clearly surprised. "This is from you guys?"

Shikamaru nodded. "It's troublesome to think of what girls want for their birthday, so we thought we'd get you clothes. It always works with Ino." She nodded her head and thanked them for it.

Kiba handed Hinata a very large, rectangular present. "It's from me, Shino, and Kurenai-sensei." She nodded as she carefully opened it.

It was a very large ivory picture frame that had small diamonds and garnets embedded into it. Hinata's jaw dropped. It was a blown up picture of Team Kurenai. Hinata narrowed her eyes at her former team. "How much did this cost?" The three of them looked away or whistled. She gently placed the frame against the wall and embraced her team in a bone-crushing hug. When she felt them starting to panic at the lack of air, she finally released them and hugged them individually. "Thank you…" She wiped at a tear and reached for the last present.

"Tough act to follow, huh Neji?"

Hinata opened a small box. She gently pulled out a necklace. It had a black colored jewel carved into the shape of a lily. In the middle of the lily, in purple, there was a flowery "H". "Did you make it yourselves?" They both nodded. She ran to squeeze the two of them into a warm embrace. They patted her back softly, smiling.

"Thank you, again, for the presents everyone. I've been alive for Twenty years now, and I've got to say that this is the best birthday ever." Hinata hugged everyone as they went out the door. Hinata waited for Naruto to come, but he didn't. He just stayed in a corner. She walked over to him. "Thanks for coming, Naruto-kun!"

He frowned. "You didn't think I would leave without giving you a present, did you?"

She smiled. "It doesn't matter. I'm just glad that you came."

"Yes it does. LOOK OVER THERE, IT'S A SQUIRREL!" Hinata looked over curiously. Nothing…

Suddenly the world went dark as someone slipped a blindfold over her eyes. She let out an "eep" as he lifted her up and carried her.

"Have her back by twelve!" she heard Neji say. Her squeals of delight pierced through the night.

Finally, Hinata felt herself being lowered to the ground. The ground felt soft, powdery, and wet beneath her sandals. "Okay…OPEN!"

As Naruto whipped off the blindfold, Hinata was blinded by the iridescent, snowy hills. The snowflakes slowly cascaded onto her face, melting at the touch. All around her were various statues of her, all carved from ice. I the middle of the clearing, there was a large "Happy Birthday Hinata!" sculpture made out of ice. She let the serenity of the falling snowflakes take her mind someplace else, as she settled into a separate peace.

"But Naruto-kun, it never snows here in Konoha…"

He smiled triumphantly. "Ero-Sennin taught me how to do a snow jutsu. It'll only last for a few more hours."

Hinata closed her eyes and breathed in the cold air. She fell to the ground on her back and started swinging her arms and legs up and down. Naruto grinned and plopped down onto the snow next to her. "SNOW ANGELS!"

Hinata and Naruto bolted up when the snow got into the back of their shirts; neither of them were properly dressed for the snow. She ran her hands up and down her arms to warm herself. Naruto unzipped his jacket and handed it to her. "I forgot how cold snow was." He grinned sheepishly and scratched at the back of his head. She gladly took it.

"It's…beautiful…" She marveled at the statues that surrounded her. It must've taken hours to carve just one statue. It made her cheeks burn at the thought of him making statues of her. "How long did it take to make all of these?"

She blushed slightly as he looked away. "Not that long…" The truth was it had taken him weeks to learn that snow jutsu. And he had spent all day carving the life-size ice sculptures of Hinata.

"It's my favorite present…thank you." She went over to pull him into a warm embrace. She buried her head slightly in his chest so that he wouldn't see her blush.

Naruto's cheeks started burning as he gently wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like that for a while, keeping each other warm. Everything seemed perfect; here they were, hugging, in the falling snow. It sounded like something that you saw in old romance films. Any sane person spying on them could have seen that the two people standing there hugging were clearly in love. But Naruto sighed. This wasn't right. He quickly pulled away. Hinata's brows creased in worry. "What's wrong Naruto?"

"I can't do this anymore…"

"W-what?"

"I know that you just want to be friends. You've made it perfectly clear to me. Every time you hold my hand, or when you even look at me, I try to fool myself into thinking that the warm feeling in my stomach is friendship. Just friendship." Hinata felt her stomach drop down into her knees. Was he trying to say what she thought he was trying to say? No…it couldn't be…"

"I try to ignore the fact that every time your hand accidentally touches mine I can't think straight. And that when you hug me, it's just a hug between _friends_. But it's not right; I can't take advantage of you anymore. I can't let you keep thinking that whenever I touch you, it doesn't mean anything…because it does. To me, at least…"

He paused for a minute, kicking the snow from his shoes. "Sometimes, when we're together, I always believe we're actually…together. That you feel the same way. But then you call me your friend Naruto-kun, and I realize that you don't." Hinata tried to talk, but she was having a hard enough time choking her tears back. _"It's not true Naruto-kun…"_

"I'm really sorry Hinata…I should have told you sooner, instead of just taking advantage of your friendship. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me…so I think we shouldn't go places together anymore, and spend so much time with each other. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do…" He turned around slowly, his gaze dropping to the floor. Before he could walk away, She latched onto his arm.

"Wait…" Naruto's eyes went wide. "Wait…" She felt that if she didn't say something now, she would lose him forever.

"It's not like that all." She wiped at her nose as she waited until she felt she could talk. "There's a reason why…I've been making sure that we just stayed friends. It's been hard for me to pretend that my feelings for you went as far as friendship. Everyday, I'd have to remind myself that 'no Hinata, he's not your boyfriend. He doesn't like you that way. And you can't let yourself fall in love with him.' It's so hard looking at you, and calling you my friend…but I know we'll never be anything more than friends."

"Why, Hinata?" He gently weaved his fingers into hers. "Why can't we be more?"

Her heart pulsed with remorse painfully as she started at her hands. She couldn't look him in the eyes. "I…can't tell you."

Naruto smiled reassuringly. "You can tell me as a friend, right?" When he saw that she couldn't look him in the eyes, his eyes dulled in defeat. _"She doesn't trust me…"_

"It's okay Hinata. I understand if you don't want to tell me. So don't worry about it, okay?" He obligingly released her hands. They instantly became cold.

"Naruto-kun…" "_I promsied myself not to tell him. I said that you wouldn't burden him with this. I wouldn't let the person I care about most feel sorry for me…but I just can't die knowing he'll think forever that I don't love him."_

"Naruto-kun…it's not that I don't love you…because I do. It's because…"

Flash back 

"Sakura, you wanted to see me?"

"Oh, Hinata! I'm glad you came. My shift here will be over in like five minutes, so wait for me just a little bit, okay?" The shy, blue-haired girl nodded and took a seat inside the hospital.

Sakura brushed the stray strands of hair from her forehead and went to where she left Hinata. "Um, if you're not busy, I was wondering if you would have lunch with me?"

"Sure Sakura. Where should we go?"

"Ichiraku's always good."

Hinata could feel the heat rise up in her cheeks just at the mention of the ramen stand. "Okay, let's go."

Hinata teetered around in her stool. "Um, Sakura, y-you see…"

Sakura laughed, but it quickly died away. "I know. You're probably wondering why I asked you to come here."

Hinata almost shot out of her chair. "Oh, no, not that I don't mind!"

"I know Hinata." She reached for Hinata's hands and held them gently. "You see…while you were in the hospital after your mission a couple weeks ago, I noticed that you had trouble breathing while you were sleeping…"

Sakura paused, looked at the worried girl, and took a deep breath. "It's your heart Hinata…it never made a full scale recovery from your fight with Neji in the Chuunin exams…One of your main arteries is closed off. I-I thought that it would slowly get better…but it's been getting worse every year. It's in too delicate an area to operate on-" Sakura choked. She was supposed to be a medic. She dealt with death on a daily base, and yet here she was crying like she had never had to tell someone about their death.

Hinata hugged the pink-haired medic and gently rubbed her back. Sakura collapsed onto her in an utter mess. When Sakura had regained her breathing patterns, Hinata pulled back. "So…how long?" Her voice was little more than a whisper. She tried to remain strong.

Sakura dabbed at her tears and looked at the calm girl. Here she was, a young, beautiful nineteen year-old, who knew she was about to die, and she looked calmer than ever. "Roughly a year…"

Hinata's eyes widened for a second, but she quickly regained composure. She knew how hard it was for Sakura to tell her. She couldn't cry; it would make Sakura feel even worse. "I…understand…" The two of them stood there, staring at each other, for a long time. Hinata got up from her stool, and Sakura broke out of her trance and followed suit. "Thank you Sakura…" She hugged the girl, bowed, then walked towards the Hyuga complex. Sakura turned and walked the other way, feeling like it was her fault.

As Hinata walked home, waves of misery crashed onto in currents of regret. A single tear trickled down her pale face. She reflected on her life, thinking about all the things she would never experience: love, contentment, recognition. Hinata drifted slowly to the gates of the Hyuga complex, where the guards stepped aside to let her in. She waved her hand meagerly and walked towards her room. She bumped into someone on the way there, nodded absentmindedly, and sauntered off.

The second her head hit the pillow, all the restrained tears pooled out of her soft lavender eyes. The bed shook gently as she silently mourned over her empty, meaningless life. As the Hyuga heiress softly drifted into sleep, she vowed to make this year important. "Starting tomorrow…I will live each day as if I will die the next…who knows when I will…"

Hinata looked at Naruto, studying his face for reaction. Slowly, as realization dawned on him, his chin started to quiver. He stifled a sob. "There's nothing…they can do?"

Hinata shook her head. Naruto couldn't believe this…the throbbing pains inside him started to spread violently. "There has to be something we can." Hinata shook her head again. "You-you can't just give up…"

Hinata held his hand in both of hers softly. "I've learned to accept. I can't waste time mourning. I've just got to try to live as much as I can…"

Naruto's head swarmed. A million different actions flooded through his brain: Hug her, kiss her, cry, tell her it's okay, kiss her, comfort her, kiss her, BREATHE, BREATHE, run…

And that's exactly what he did…he ran. Hinata looked after the footprints Naruto had left in the snow…

_Let me follow the path of footprints in the sand_

You left for me to chase on unscathed land 

Hope that satisfies your curiosity, props to TenTen-chan23 for picking up the hints, although the pregnant guess was a good attempt. Please review; it will give meaning to my sad little life.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you lovely ladies (and Youkai Cornpuffs, of course) for reviewing. "They like me, they really like me!" He…he…I'll stop now before I scare you away. Btw, I think the next chapter should conclude this fic. I'll have it up tomorrow, scouts honor!….Yah, I'm not a boys/girls scout….but I will have it up!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the show, or the manga, etc.**

Chapter Five: Once upon a time…

Naruto got out of bed to relieve himself, then quickly got back in under the covers. And he proceeded to sleep like a log for the rest of his life.

Hinata rested her head against her arms as she lied down on the sand on her stomach. The fresh, salty smell of the ocean tickled her nose hairs. Tenten was lying on her back on a towel, tossing a valley ball into the air, catching and throwing it over and over again. The sand from the ball dotted her shirt.

"I shouldn't have told him…"

"No, you did right. If he had never found out, he would have never forgiven you. Imagine one day, you wake up and found out Naruto has died. How would you feel? Betrayed?"

Hinata felt only slightly better. The girl did have a point. "He hasn't come out of his house for almost a two weeks."

Tenten patted Hinata's shoulder. The poor girl was trying to keep busy, trying to enjoy her last months. "Don't worry about it. If there's one thing I know, that baka never lets anyone down when it counts."

Hinata's head felt heavy against her arms. The sadness and guilt that haunted her was threatening to overflow. She needed something to distract herself; something that would take her mind away from the golden-haired loud mouth she kept seeing everywhere she went. After all, she didn't have any days to spare.

"Tenten-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Do you love Neji?"

Tenten's eyes enlarged for a split second. "That's…a very good question…With Neji, it gets complicated. He makes me train with him, wears me down to the bone, and often ignores my feeble attempts at a conversation. Sometimes he doesn't even answer my questions." Hinata nodded. She was familiar with that kind of treatment.

"But then, if I would date other men, he would altogether stop talking to me." Tenten sweat dropped. "And, more often than not, the poor guy ended up having to be wheeled away in a gurney. In my life, I like consistency. And I just don't get that from Neji."

"Then why are you…?"

Tenten smiled knowingly at Hinata. "Love…let's be honest. It sucks most of the time. But for that one split second, where I just feel like we perfectly understand each other, that makes all the confusion and doubts wear off."

"How do you know if someone loves you?"

"Hinata, how many times has Neji told you he loves you?"

Hinata racked her weary brain for information. Nothing. "Never…"

"How many times does he ruffle your hair, compliment you, or tell you you're the best cousin ever?"

"Never."

"But does he love you?"

"I-I hope so."

Tenten had a content grin on her face. "Oh jee, I think I just made a point. You see…sometimes life is worth the risk. You just _know_ that Neji loves you as his little sister, right?" Hinata nodded. "It's that feeling you have…I can't describe it with words. You may not know up here," Tenten pointed to her head, "but you always know inside. It's a matter of coming to terms with the truth."

Hinata once again rested her chin on her hands in defeat. Tenten ruffled her hair. "You know he loves you Hinata…"

The tears trickled down her face in long, thin lines. "But I can't let him. And I can't love him back."

"And why's that?"

And I'll hold your outstretched hand just for a while 

_I can't leave you behind, and diminish your smile_

"Because, it would just be so selfish. I'm making him fall in love with me, when I won't even be there for him. I'll leave him behind. And I just can't do that to him. I won't break his heart…"

"What about you? Will it be okay for you to die without ever seeing him again? And maybe be with somebody else?"

Hinata shook her head. "No. It's not okay for me. But it's not about me. It's about him. If, someday in the future, someone else can make him happy, then I can only hope for the best for him."

_I can't put you through pain from leaving so soon_

_Drowning in the sand of time within great dunes_

Tenten's heart wrenched painfully as she looked at her. Here was a girl who never thought of her own personal gains. A girl who would cast her feelings into darkness to try put a smile on someone else's face. "I know you want to make Naruto happy…but have you ever once thought about him?" Hinata's face froze at the sound of those words. "What about what he wants? Didn't it ever occur to you that you're the one he wants? Not anyone else?" Hinata's chin trembled softly. She willed herself not to cry. Tenten's expression quickly softened. "Hinata, look, I'm sorry for being so harsh. I just…I don't want you to have any regrets. Be happy."

Hinata closed her eyes and nodded, breathing the soothing beach air.

Sakura tapped on the door lightly. "Naruto?" No answer. She knocked again. "Naruto, you there?" Sakura sighed. She was not a patient woman. _"Just once more…"_ Sakura knocked yet again. No answer. Sakura walked away, deflated…

…then charged with her man power and kicked the door off its hinges…

"Naruto! This is pathetic! Look at yourself! You look terrible!" She stomped over to his bed and whipped off his sheets. Sure enough, he was wearing the same pajamas as he was almost two weeks ago. Her fierce look softened as the steam that was emitting from her nostrils slowed to a stop. "Naruto…get out of bed." He shook his head and reached for the covers.

"Naruto. What are you solving by staying in bed? You're not a lonely 40-year old woman who lives with 27 cats."

"I might as well be…"

"He speaks!" 

"Naruto…why don't you go see her?"

"I can't…"

"Why not?"

"It hurts."

"And you're going to stand here and tell me it doesn't hurt not seeing her?" Naruto tore his gaze away from Sakura and fell onto his pillow. "Naruto…please…is this how to want things to end-"

"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT ENDINGS! I CAN'T DO IT! YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND, OKAY?" He stared at the wide-eyed girl and sighed miserably. "Sakura…I know you're trying to help. But it's beyond help."

Sakura gazed at the blue-eyed boy. His once animated eyes were dull and synthesized. "I can't find my friend Naruto. If you see him, could you please tell him I'm looking for him?" Feeling as if she had gotten her message across, Sakura gently closed the door behind her.

Neji and Tenten didn't even bother knocking. They stormed into his cluttered apartment. Tenten had to hand it to Naruto. _"I know you live alone, but so do I. And at my apartment, you can even see the carpets."_ Tenten kneeled down and rested her elbows onto Naruto's bed. "Naruto…why don't we go for a walk?"

He shifted around in his bed so that his back was facing Tenten. Hope seemed to seep out of her feet with each passing second; the hole in the dam was slowly growing. "She really misses you."

Naruto didn't speak. What did they know about loss? Here they were, Mr. Hyuga Neji and his soul mate/girl friend/training partner/whatever the hell they were. They would grow up, get married, and have white-eyed little babies scurrying around all over the place. He would never have that.

"I know what you think; it's not fair…and it's not. But that's why you've got to fight; for both of you." Tenten stepped outside the door. It was too depressing watching him. Neji followed, stopping at the door.

"Uzumaki Naruto told me that he never backed out on promises. That was his ninja way." He stepped out the door and closed it behind him. That night, as he lay there sleeping, memories of promising to protect her haunted his subconscious. He had many nightmares.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess with lovely ivory eyes and blue hair. She was being held captive by a fire-breathing dragon, waiting for her gallant knight to rescue her. A blond night in shining armor galloped heroically to save the princess from the nasty fire-breathing dragon. As he trotted down the rickety bridge, he arrived to the castle just in time to see the princess get incinerated by the dragon's fiery breath.

_Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl who awaited the return of her husband from war. With every passing day, a part of her heart died. As the brave blue-eyed soldier ran through the village, he stumbled upon a freshly dug grave. He read the inscriptions and collapsed onto his love's grave._

_Once upon a time there was an evil sea witch who offered a curious white-eyed mermaid a tempting bargain: if she received the kiss of true love in three days before the sunset, she would remain a human forever. As the handsome young human bent in to kiss her on the third day, the sun went down over the lofty hills. The mermaid girl died._

_Once upon there was a certain blue-haired white-eyed young woman who was slowly fading away. Her heart was starting to break down physically and mentally. As the blond-haired blue-eyed young man rushed to the hospital, he stormed into her hospital room just in time to see her lifelines go flat. _

There was a soft knock on the door. Naruto's eyes flew open, but he stayed put. Slowly, the door opened.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

He froze in his bed like an animal caught in an incoming car's headlights.

"I guess you're sleeping. Well, I guess I can come back later." She went to close the door, but hesitantly stopped herself. She had gone too far to quit now. "I-I just want you to know…I really like you…and…I just wish there was something I could do for you…"

As the door closed, he sat up and rubbed his blood shot, tear-stained eyes. _"Did it always have to be the same ending?"_

Hinata's walk back home was empty. She felt as if someone had jabbed a spoon down her throat and scraped away at everything inside of her. She felt helpless; it had taken her several days to get the courage to walk to his house. The first day, she took two steps into the blistering cold winds that tore at her before running back inside. The next day she worked enough courage to go one hundred paces before retreating. The day after that she made it halfway to his house before losing heart. Then she went two-thirds of the way. Finally, she worked up enough determination to knock on his door…

…only to be turned away. She had tried to coax him out of his apartment, all in vain. Why was it that without, she felt like such a failure? Why did she feel like the self-conscious little girl back then who never stood up for herself? Without his encouragement, she felt herself slipping away from the desire to be acknowledged. So she slipped away. Without him she felt…_nothing._ Nothing inspired any emotions into her.

Despite everything, she had lived up to her promise. She was still burying herself in activities: the movies, picnics, the beach with Tenten. But she did it all half-heartedly. It was like a hunger inside her that was never fulfilled; she was always hungry. It didn't make sense to her. She had lived most of her life without his company. So why was his absence driving her insane now?

" _You know he loves you Hinata…_"

Tenten's voice echoed inside her head. Hinata's eyes drooped down as the energy blew away from her with the wind. She sat down on a bench and brought her knees up to her chin in fetal position. She was asleep within two seconds.

Sakura stretched her arms out as she took a stroll in the park. She looked to the trees and watched her namesake's petals dance through the wind. Out of the corner, something blue caught her eyes.

She walked over and examined it. A slow started to spread across her face. She looked so darn cute when she was sleeping. But something wasn't right. Hinata's sleep looked less than peaceful; her brows were knit closely together, her mouth looked stern, and she was in fetal position. Sakura put her hand to Hianta's forehead. It was cold and sweaty. She gently shook her. "Hinata?" She shook her again. "Hinata!" Sakura was gradually shaking the poor girl harder and harder into it looked like she was trying to attack her. A few by standers gave the crazy pink-haired girl funny looks. Sakura panicked. "_Is this it? Is this what we've been dreading?"_ Sakura laughed bitterly at the irony. They all knew what would happen eventually; so why was she so surprised?

Beeep. "Naruto, this is Sakura. Hinata passed out, and she's at the hospital. If you don't come here soon, I'm going to march over there and drag you here myself. I won't take no for an answer, Uzumaki, and you and I both know I'm not a patient woman." Beep.

Beep. "Naruto, she's in critical condition. You really have to come here…don't do it for me, just do it for her. Before it's too late."

Sakura walked into Hinata's room, where Neji's head was resting on Hinata's bed. During sleep, his hair had gotten disheveled. Sakura lightly cleared her throat, causing Neji to bolt upright. "I was resting my eyes." She rolled her eyes at his enormous ego. "I know, I know. Er…could I have a moment alone with her? You should get some breakfast." "And take a bath while you're at it…" He nodded and left the room.

She looked so peaceful when she slept, tightly hugging her teddy bear that Neji had brought from home. It looked as if, at least for a brief moment, the girl didn't have a single care in the world. She looked like an angel sleeping peacefully on a cloud…

...except for the tubes that were jammed up her nose. She hated waking the girl up, but this was important. Sakura couldn't put it off any longer. She carefully nudged Hinata's arm. Her eyelids fluttered a little before opening up, narrowing in the sunlight. "Hey Hinata."

"Ohayo Sakura-chan."

" Okay Hinata, I don't really know how to say this, so I'm just going to have to cut to the chase. You're in critical condition right now. There's no telling how much longer you have. But you have an option…"

Hinata's heart rose up into a bubble of hope. She would do anything to be able to say Naruto, just one last time. "What is it!" she said more forcefully that she intended to.

"One of our patients died yesterday night. We have his family's consent to use his heart in a transplant."

Hinata's bubble of hope rose higher and higher until it was in her throat. Sakura hesitated before speaking again.

"The bad news is…the transplant will only give you another year at most, a year and a half if you're lucky." Hinata's bubble popped. Sakura placed Hinata's cold, frail hand in between hers. "Listen, you don't have to make p your mind right away. I'll give you some time to think."

Hinata shook her head. "I don't want to think about it."

"Then we'll proceed with operation at noon."

**Thanks for reading! Review, review, review! **


	6. Chapter 6

And so, here's the last chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. You comments always make me laugh xD I'm working on another fic right now, it will be posted in a week at most, so check it out. Thanks again for giving me heart to continue!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, blah blah blah.**

Chapter Six: Where I Am 

Hinata looked at the anxious faces of her family. Neji and Hanabi waved to her as she was wheeled away towards the Orthotopic Surgery room. She hated to see them so worried over her; she had to be strong for them. Hinata waved to them and smiled bravely before the doors closed behind her. Neji led Hanabi away from the operating room. Shizune entered the room with Sakura and sat down on a chair next to Hinata. As Shizune briefly explained the procedure to Hinata, she winced. It sounded rather gruesome and painful. Was a year of her life really worth getting her rib cage cut open and the nasty scar if would leave behind? Hinata already knew the answer. It was worth it for _him_. Hinata nodded. She lay there, grabbing at the sheets beneath her, shaking.

She was scared. More scared than she had ever been in her life. Hinata tried to visualize his face, and, gradually, her fear melted away.

"Sakura, please inject her with the medications." Hinata felt the world go foggy as she began to feel faint-headed. Numbness swept over her body in tides. Her eyelids closed involuntarily. Hinata fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Not even nightmares could reach her here.

They waited until they were certain that she was unconscious. Shizune started the procedure as Sakura watched. Her stomach felt queasy; sure, she was used to operating on other patients, but seeing it happened to one of her loved ones was a whole other story. She commanded her fingers to stop quivering as she clamped off the coronary blood vessels. Without breaking focus, Shizune said, "Sakura, you okay?"

Sakura shook out of her trance and nodded. She couldn't mess up this surgery; the risks were too high. She had to have complete focus. After Shizune was done removing the old her and placing the transplant in, Sakura took over to give her a break. Shizune dabbed at the sweat on her forehead. Sakura entered a zone of complete metal focus as she stitched up the incision. She then injected medications to keep her immune system from rejecting the new heart.

Sakura started pacing the floors. _"Come on Hinata, wake up. Please wake up."_ When she felt stirring, she rushed over to the bed. Hinata's eyes had a glazed look about them. "Hinata!" The drowsy girl nodded. Sakura turned away and slid down, leaning against the bed. A fresh batch of tears spilled out of her eyes. But this time, they were tears of relief. The fear and anxiety she was feeling unraveled at her feet, seeping into the ground. After her sobbing and choking had calmed down, Sakura wiped the tears away with her sleeves and blew her nose into her coat.

"You're still tired from the aesthetics. Go back to sleep, okay? Get a lot of rest." Hinata nodded as she drifted back to sleep. Sakura stayed there, sitting, too exhausted emotionally to do anything else.

_Hinata was in front of a forked road. It was cold. Hinata could feel her body growing weak. All around her, the flowers shriveled up into dead yellow heaps. All vegetation and life deteriorated into the earth. The dry, barren land started to consume her will to live. As the red, liquid life spilled out of her, she knew was going to die. _Sakura looked at the monitors and bolted upright. "Come one Hinata, please pull through."

_An image of him flashed into the sky. His lively, cerulean eyes held a twinkle in them. The image slowly faded away. Hinata panicked. She grasped onto the life that was slowly fading away. "I can't die…I won't die. At least not yet."_ _Hinata clutched onto the image of Naruto, holding onto it with all her might. She refused to let it slip from fingers._

Sakura looked down at Hinata's hands. Her knuckles were white from grabbing onto the sheets too hard. Her hands slowly relaxed, just as the monitor regained its steady measures. Sakura was too relieved to be weirded out by the spontaneous recovery. Hinata was going to live; that's all that mattered.

Tenten walked into the room and placed a vase of fresh-cut flowers by the nightstand. She looked at Neji. Once again, he was resting his chin on Hinata's bed, sleeping. It had been weeks since he went home. Tenten chuckled as she looked at him. There were strands of hair poking out from his long ponytail, obscuring his eyes. The bags under his eyes were deep and wrinkly. Tenten scooted a chair up next to Neji. The skidding noises caused Neji to jump up. "I was resting my-"

"Yah yah, Hyuga, I know."

He muttered under his breath as he brought another chair beside Tenten's. He looked at his cousin miserably. "She'll never find happiness."

"Sure she can. In fact, she already has."

"What if I hadn't taken out my anger of the main house on her? She'd be well and alive today."

"What if this, what if that. What if I had parents? What if I belonged to a renowned clan? What if I was wealthy? Then I could marry you. Neji, we can't live asking ourselves what if."

"What if it was you who made her like this. How would you feel?"

"Neji…I know you feel terrible. But there's nothing you can do about it now except to make her last days happy ones." She scooted her chair closer to his and laced her fingers through his. He curled his fingers around hers.

"I want to marry you…" She smiled sadly.

"I know you do…but for now, this'll do." They both looked at the innocently sleeping Hinata until they fell asleep.

Hinata dreamed of skipping through fields of roses, daffodils, and tulips, breathing in the fragrant aroma of the flowers. She danced around, chasing butterflies. She turned around as a blimp crashed into her. Hinata's eyes snapped open. She could vaguely hear arguing in the background.

"Kiba, I told you not to in bring so many balloons! One just hit her in the face!"

"I only ordered thirty-seven!"

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "That's a random number."

"Yah, well the store I went to only had thirty seven." Tenten sighed as she clawed at a balloon that was attached to one of her buns. Her eyes threatened to pop to of their sockets when she saw that Hinata was awake. "Hinata!"

Everyone in the room stomped towards the small girl. She felt like she was caught in a stampede. Hinata looked around her surroundings. There were flowers all over the place, from what she could tell through the mass of balloons clouding her view. She craned her neck, looking for someone. "Where's Naruto?"

The room filled with a morbid silence. Shino looked to the side when she looked him in the sunglasses, waiting for an answer. She slid down into the covers so that no one would see her cry. "He hasn't left his house? How long has it been?"

No one answered. Neji sighed. "It's been two weeks. We've been able to lure him out of his house, but changes the subject when we mention you or the hospital."

Hinata poked her head out from the blankets. "I see…so…how have you guys been?"

"GREAT!"

She smiled. By the looks of them, they were anything but great. Especially Neji. They all looked as if they could use a few showers or two. "Thank you guys for coming, but really, I'm okay now. I'll be fine. You guys should go home, get some rest. When I get out of her, we can go out for dinner or something. My treat."

"Bah, we're fine Hinata! Never better!"

"I really do think you should go get some rest."

"No, please, we insist."

"But-"

"They have clean bathrooms, decent food, nice lighting."

"I.Said.I.Think.You.Should.All.Get.Some.Rest."

They didn't need to be told twice. When Hinata used her serious voice, it was quite intimidating. They all came to give her a hug then left her alone.

Day after day, Hinata lost hope in Naruto; maybe he was never going to come. No, no, she couldn't give up. He had to come. He just had to.

Naruto got up to use the restroom. On his way there, he passed by the blinking answering machine, _"It's probably just telemarketers. Nothing important."_ He took one step. _"Nah, why am I worried about it? No one calls me anyway."_ He took two more steps. The nagging feeling inside his gut stayed put. _"Oh, all right. It's just going to be telemarketers anyways."_

You have forty-two new messages.

Beeep. "Naruto, this is Sakura. Hinata passed out, and she's at the hospital. If you don't come here soon, I'm going to march over there and drag you here myself. I won't take no for an answer, Uzumaki, and you and I both know I'm not a patient woman." Beep.

Naruto felt his throat go dry.

Beep. "Naruto, she's in critical condition. You really have to come here…don't do it for me, just do it for her. Before it's too late. We don't have a lot of time…"

Before the other messages started to play, Naruto grasped the answering machine in his hands so hard that it shattered into pieces. Regret swelled up inside of him. Before the pieces of the answering machine had time to fall to the floor, Naruto was out the door.

"Please be alive. Please be alive. Please be alive. PLEASE BE ALIVE." As Naruto ran towards the hospital, his vision blurred beneath the tears that collected in his eyes. What was he thinking? He shouldn't have left her alone. It was hard enough knowing she was going to die, but he let her face it all by herself. He turned her away when she needed him most. Naruto picked up the pace.

He pushed through the doors of the hospital with so much force that all of the windows in it cracked. The receptionist cursed under her breath as he charged towards her. "HYUGA HINATA! (pant) WHAT (pant) ROOM NUMBER!" The receptionist stood there, frozen in place. The boy's blue eyes became tainted with bloody red hue. His pupil started to stretch into a long vertical slit. Naruto started to shake her. "WHAT ROOM NUMBER!" He didn't have time for this; he needed to get to her now. Naruto clamed down, took a deep breath, and regained control. His eyes turned back to their original color. "Room 69-" Naruto ran for it.

"Get out of the way!" Naruto used chakra to run on the ceiling, over the people that were blocking his path. As he ran along the ceiling, he looked at the passing numbers until he spotted room 69. He kicked the door open and ran to the bed. He stopped in his tracks. Hinata's body was covered with white linens.

Naruto pounded his fists into the walls, creating two impressions into it. It was just like his nightmares; he was too late. Patients and doctors started to crowd around the door because of the commotion. He didn't care. As tears that he had held back for weeks gushed out of his eyes, he walked over to the bed where she laid, dead, and reached under the linen to hold her rough, dry, bumpy hand. The top of her blue greasy head peeked out from the bottom of the linen.

"Hinata!"

Her voice rang through the hospital. Tsunade angrily stormed into the room. "Naurto! Just what do you think-"

"Shut up! I'm too late! It's all my fault, Obaa-chan. She needed me. And I let her die all by herself!" Naruto choked as the hand he was holding twisted out of his grasp. His face paled when "Hinata" sat up.

An old man with a blue bowl cut sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Young man, what are you doing screaming at the top of your lungs at this hour!"

"B-b-but!"

Tsunade resisted the urge to pound him and took a deep breath. "Naruto. This is room 96…"

"Huh? But that's impossible; I saw it with my own eyes. Room 69."

"You mean the eyes that happened to be on the ceiling, reading UPSIDE DOWN?" Tsunade roared.

"So Hinata's not dead?"

"If you would check your messages, you would know that her heart transplant was as successful as we could expect it to be." Tsunade shoved him out the door, apologized to the grumpy old man, and escorted a very confused Naruto into room 69.

Nej, Tenten, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Ino, and Sakura looked up to see Naruto enter the room. They smiled as they wordlessly filed out of the room, leaving him alone with Hinata. He looked at her face for a moment, unable to say anything. There were so many emotions flying around in his head; he didn't know where to start.

Hinata slowly sat up in her bed. Naruto walked over and sat down on the foot of her bed, staring at the wall. He wanted to run over there, hug her, and kiss her, but he couldn't even bring himself to look at her. The shame was too much. His back stiffened as he felt two soft arms gently wrap themselves around him. Hinata pressed the side of her face against his back. Naruto relaxed a bit. "Hinata…"

"Naruto-kun."

"I just…I don't know where to start. There's so many things I want to say to you, but I can't…"

"Are you mad…at me?" Her words caused the guilt building up inside him to increase tenfold. How could she even think he was mad at her? He wouldn't blame her if she never talked to him again.

"I could never be mad at you, Hinata-chan."

"Then…why were you avoiding me?" She choked on her tears halfway through her sentence. "I know I put you through so much. I should have known better than to just blurt it to you. I'm so sorry. I don't want you to hate me."

Naruto shook his head vigorously. He twisted himself out of her grasp and turned around to face her. His latched onto her wrists, looking into her eyes intensely. "I can't hate you; I hate myself. You trusted me with your pain. It must've taken so much to tell me, and I ran away from you like a coward. I wasn't mad at you Hinata; I was mad at the world, at everything. Why did you have to die? Why couldn't it have been me who Neji fought? Why you? Nothing made sense to me anymore. I wanted so badly to run to you and be there for you, but it just hurt so much to look at you."

Hinata blushed slightly. The tip of his nose was touching hers. Her blush grew when he looked into her eyes, but she was determined not to look away. "Naruto…I love you. But I don't want this. I don't want you to love me, then have me die, leaving you all alone. I don't ever want to leave you." He slowly pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head

He shook softly as he cried. "Stupid. Who said you have to?"

"This heart transplant, it won't last forever. It'll only last-"

"Until that day comes, I'm going to stand by you. I won't ever leave. I'll be here, beside you, forever."

"But-"

She never got to finish her sentence as Naruto softly pressed his lips to hers. There was so much emotion behind it, that Hinata just sat there, stunned. He pulled back slowly to look at her; her lips felt cold without his warmth on them. She really was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Naruto reached in to kiss her again, wrapping his arms around her as he deepened the kiss. She closed her eyes and collapsed into his arms. As she sat there inside his arms, kissing him, all of her questions about the future went away. She lightly ran one of her hands through his hair. In truth, Naruto hadn't showered in days, but it didn't matter. It wasn't even the question of if she would live. All that mattered was the two of them, together. She would always love him; nothing could change that. As Hinata broke away for air, she felt content.

She laid there, his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close to him. Hinata buried her head into his chest. She fell asleep, still encircled in his arms, where she would stay forever.

I understand a lot of people wanted me to make a sappy ending where Hinata somehow makes a full scale recovery, and I am deeply sorry for disappointing you. But I hope that this ending somewhat satisfies. I love ya'll :D Thanks for the support!


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